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Presidential Race Too Close to Call, Labor Victories in New Jersey

November 09, 2016

With the presidential race too close to call, we are proud that New Jersey was once again a bright spot for the nation thanks to the solidarity and determination of our union brothers and sisters. Labor reelected our union brother Donald Norcross from IBEW 351 to Congress and paved the way to a victory in New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District by electing Joshua Gottheimer. We were also proud to elect five of our labor candidates to our state’s county Freeholder boards.

Through the labor candidates program, we elected 38 rank-and-file members to public office, achieving a win ratio of 79% and a total win-count of 913 since 1997. In addition, working families succeeded in passing ballot question #2 to dedicate additional gas tax revenue to the Transportation Trust Fund. New Jersey also became the first state in the nation to completely transition from paper labor walk packets to the MiniVAN smartphone app, greatly boosting the efficiency of our voter education efforts.

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO’s political education program is second to none thanks to the invaluable support of all Central Labor Councils, Building Trades Councils, and affiliates. It is your volunteerism, financial support, and unwavering dedication to union values and solidarity that make our movement the strongest in the nation.

We thank you for all you do and will continue to do as we head into the 2017 gubernatorial election and the battles ahead. With the election behind us, people from all walks of life must come together with our elected officials to build a future we can be proud of – for our children and our nation.